Dallas Cowboys Defense Still Has 'Work To Do' Despite Bounce-Back Week 2 Performance

After falling way short of expectations in the season opener against the New York Giants in primetime, the Dallas Cowboys had a strong bounce-back performance against the Washington Commanders in the team's home opener on Sunday evening.

The Week 2 outing was a step forward for the Cowboys and showed signs of progress, but there is still a lot of work to do, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Dallas gave up 24 first downs to the Commanders' offense and allowed backup quarterback Marcus Mariota to throw for 111 yards and one touchdown in the second half with a QBR of 84.0. Before Jayden Daniels' injury, he rushed for 69 yards and could not be contained.

After the game, head coach Brian Schottenheimer spoke to the media and opened up about the team's improvements. Of course, there is admittedly a lot of work that the team still needs to do to get to the next level.

Dallas Cowboys Defense Is Still Work In Progress

Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker with head coach Brian Schottenheimer at training camp at River Ridge Playing Fields. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"Overall, I thought the communication was better. There’s certainly things to clean up. We certainly did a poor job of containing Jayden (Daniels), but he can do that. He does that to a lot of people. That’s really where the rush yards got away," Schottenheimer said. "And then we got some things to improve on third down. I thought we really rushed the passer well. I don’t know what the pressure numbers were. I know we didn’t get any sacks, but (Daniels) and Marcus (Mariota) were both moved off the spot quite a bit. So, I felt good about that.

"But there’s always things to clean up. We certainly have not arrived. We got a lot of work to do."

It's great to see that the Cowboys are holding themselves to a high standard and are not content with taking small steps in the right direction. The team brought in Christian Parker to completely overhaul the defense, and he's just getting started.

Dallas Cowboys cornerback Caleb Downs is coached through a drill with defensive coordinator Christian Parker at the Star Training Facility in Frisco, Texas. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

After finishing with the league's worst pass defense last season and the No. 30-ranked unit overall, the defense can only get better, and through two weeks, the progress may have been slow, but it looks like the team is in good hands.

Dallas' defense will face its toughest test of the season so far in Week 3, when they face former NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in the league's first-ever game in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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